Austria, SKorea React to Canada Bid Win

SUSANNA LOOF

Published 8:00 pm, Tuesday, July 1, 2003

Associated Press Writer

Beer stopped flowing and the band stopped playing in Salzburg's packed central square; fireworks were packed away and a discouraged crowd of 1,000 dispersed quietly from a plaza in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Those were the reactions in the losing cities after the 2010 Winter Olympics were awarded to Vancouver, British Columbia, on Wednesday.

"It's so unfair," said Anselm Proell, a 20-year-old Austrian student. "Austria actually is a country of skiers, a nation of winter sports. We offer the best environment."

"It's such a pity," Pyeongchang resident Nam Sang-ryul said after watching the announcement from Prague, Czech Republic, on a large TV screen. "Our hosting would have helped bring forward unification with North Korea."

Politics of another sort was on the mind of many Austrians, including Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel.

He expressed surprise his country was eliminated in the first round of voting, adding, "there are many reasons for that, the geographical and geopolitical situation."

The 2004 Summer Games are in Athens, Greece, and the '06 Winter Games are in Turin, Italy _ 370 miles from Salzburg. Also, European cities Paris, London and Madrid are among the bidders for the 2012 Summer Games.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, however, dismissed geography as a factor in the decision.

"We were so often told we have the best bid, 'but…,'" he said. "And I guess the 'but' in the end was bigger than the best bid."

Salzburg dropped out in the first round with only 16 votes out of 107. Vancouver beat out Pyeongchang 56-53 in the second round.

"We can't blame the referee, we have to look at our own mistakes," Schuessel said. "I'm a little surprised and even more disappointed that at the first round we didn't get more than 16 votes. This has to be analyzed."

Korean women in traditional dress wiped tears off their faces as they walked out of the hall where the voting took place. Some Korean officials tried to focus on how close their bid came.

"We didn't expect such a strong result in the first round. It was a remarkable outcome," bid spokesman Ji Moon Won said. "We expected about this much because we had a very strong presentation."

But Hahm Seung-heui, a member of South Korea's national assembly, said there was "much disappointment."

"Our image was very strong, an image of peace and universality. But some IOC members didn't understand the message."

The Winter Olympics have been held twice in Asia _ in Japan in 1972 and 1998.